Why America voted for Trump, a simple, sane summary

[Bippy2024]

This is why Trump won so resoundingly - this is why 72 million Americans voted for him - in one of his voter's own words.

If you choose to monster and slur 72 million people, that's saying a lot about you. Every accusation is a confession.

"I know a lot of people who voted for Trump. Let me tell you their reasons.
They wanted a return to normalcy. Gender ideology is just too out there. They want to protect women and children.

The economy has been disastrous for them. They didn’t have a cushion to absorb the inflation. They are cutting out everything in their lives just to afford food. And some are cutting that out.

Their lives have gotten very small. When they tried to tell you, they were told they shouldn’t splurge on things like a frozen pizza.

They see people coming illegally into this country and being handed stuff. Their stuff. Their money is being handed over. They have nothing. They watch as others are just handed more than they have.

They can’t afford rent and don’t know what to do. More people fighting for the same housing units makes prices rise.

They see a frightening turn towards censorship. They value the first amendment. Remember, it’s very important. They are so tired of being lied to and called terrible names.

Every time the mainstream media made up a story to make people hysterical they rolled their eyes. This pushed more and more people away. They stopped having any faith in the media. A firing squad? Really?

They feel the hysteria is toxic and frightening. Again they want this all to calm down.

They watch as political protests are punished for only one side. They see crime running rampant.

They see the people who try to protect us from crime being punished. The criminals go free to re-offend.

Essentially, they want their children to be healthy, they want their family to be fed, they don’t want endless war, they want things to be fair, they want the bad guys punished and the good guys appreciated, they want to protect women and children.

I hope if you are frightened today you will hear me. I hope I can help you see that things are not dire. I hope I can help you see that these were regular everyday folks who want regular everyday things. Food, clothing, shelter, privacy, respect for boundaries.

That’s it. Just those things. Peace."

https://x.com/babybeginner/status/1854179213399502850

Because people in Louisiana have very different lives/problems/concerns to people in California, and there are much more people living “Louisianas” than “Californias”, simple as that.

I was expecting this thread to be a discussion of different view points. Not one person telling everyone she (or he) has the only answer. Still, revealing.
IMO trump won because there is a vast pool of low earning, ill educated people who haven’t seen their quality of life improve. Added to this many of them are from the group that used to have respect / be in charge - the manual workers that ‘built America’. But now they’ve lost that respect and influence and see other groups and countries overtaking them (hence the racism, misogyny, anti woke). The world is changing and not in their favour. It’s the same across Europe (except education is better).
Apparently many Americans thought that tarrifs were paid by the foreign companies and are only finding out that it’s them that will have to pay. They’ve made their decisions based on limited understanding. If they don’t understand this it’s understandable they don’t give a toss about climate change (science!). It’s a much more comfortable position to dismiss an existential threat as ‘fake news’ and carry on as before than worry about the future.

And yet throughout your posts you’ve been dissing and speaking with contempt about anyone who disagrees with you. You’ve come across as really patronising. People are allowed to disagree with you without being called hysterical, a person is allowed to put their point of view across without being described as someone who is frothing foaming and screeching about it. Yes, we understand, you voted for Trump, good for you. Now stop lecturing us about what we should believe. The discussion will go on, as it should, no matter how much you stamp your foot and call people who disagree with as „thick as fuck”. In one of your recent posts you said that you appreciate those adults having adult discussions, and that it was a nice change on Mumsnet. Again, so those people who disagree with you are not adults? This is no way to have a discussion or debate. You can’t put people down just to make your point of view, or to make your self feel better.

I get that already and sympathise for most of those reasons (albeit the immigrant issue which is usually a misperception and immigrants (or benefit claimants are usually just an easy scapegoat for whatever government needs a scapegoat), what I don't understand is why on earth anyone thinks that the member of the elite, Trump, is going to give it to them.

Like all the other narcissistic, wealthy people who get into power, he's just going to keep the status quo: the rich getting richer and the poor and middle classes getting poorer and poorer. Because that suits him and his cronies. That's what is causing this cost of living crisis, the growing wealth gap. It's not a few handouts or whatever going to immigrants. Trump isn't a "man of the people" as he tries to make out.

This isn't anti-American. As PPs have said, a similar thing happened here over Brexit. And our last Prime Minister was an uber wealthy billionaire, who had followed (more or less) a chain of over privileged Etonians.

We all need to stop voting in the people who are part of the problem. It isn't in their interests to sort things out so things are fairer. Fingers crossed Kier and the labour party will be different.

That's what is causing this cost of living crisis, the growing wealth gap.

Income inequality doesn't cause inflation. Prices are set by supply and demand. Supply shocks, like we had during covid, reduce the availability of goods and then prices go up. Governments expanding the monetary supply by deficit spending increases the demand for goods and prices go up.

https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-causes-inflation

Summary.
What causes inflation? There is no one answer, but like so much of macroeconomics it comes down to a mix of output, money, and expectations. Supply shocks can lower an economy’s potential output, driving up prices. An increase in the money supply can stoke demand, driving up prices. And the expectation of inflation can become a self-fulfilling cycle as workers and companies demand higher wages and set higher prices.

Have they stopped teaching economics in Britain?

For the person who keep crapping on

For those who managed to stay civil

Sslf awareness is a beautiful
thijg. 😆

Just interested to know HOW Trump will reduce the mass immigration…? We could do with some good ideas here

They see a frightening turn towards censorship.

So is the republican party removing any censorship on literature in all states?

They want to protect women and children.

So are the republicans guaranteeing all women will have access to safe pregnancy care, including abortion? Are they also looking to improving the conviction rates of rapists?

They feel the hysteria is toxic and frightening. Again they want this all to calm down
So politicians who lie will surely then be suitably punished, or is it okay to cause hysteria by saying people are stealing and eating pets?

@Bippy2024 You were describing people you disagreed with as sneery, screaming, hysterical, thick as fuck, frothing, foaming and screeching etc. I wasn't "projecting meaning" or "jamming words" into your mouth, I was quoting what you wrote.

Despite your clumsy and disingenuous attempt at muddying the waters, I didn't claim that you were directing those terms at specific people in this thread. I was pointing out your blatant hypocrisy in denigrating other people's supposed incivility while simultaneously using insults and slurs yourself.

It reminds me of Brexit-the amount of abuse online if you logically stated why it was piss poor idea from certain quarters 'leftists, guardianistas , snowflakes, remoaners, etc etc and these were the more mild things- yet they then get more abusive about anyone daring to call them out for being naive, believing any old bullshit , racist ( a great many were) no knowledge of how trade actually works ( most didn't)

I don't mind if people have different views but expect to be able to debate it without abuse -

I saw a Twitter thread on this
x.com/therestofus5/status/1854234747280777585?s=48&t=O-AdmTEwVSo6K31XKxOLCw
After four years of trolling women would probably have voted for a chimp shitting in its hands and clapping over the Democrats.

"He stood up to him and called his bluff. And KJU did absolutely NOTHING. This time around he'll give up his nuclear weapons"

That's a massively delusional reach going from 'KJU didn't start a nuclear war in response to Trump' to 'North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons because Trump tells it to'.

I

@CyclingAddict How quickly people forget “Build The Wall” in 2016 election! Where is it? Did Trump build it in his 4 years in office? It’s very odd no blame is attached to him and his failures and duping people in 2016. The Swamp is still rammed full too!

The majority of Americans look at what’s best for them. Many don’t care about other countries as they don’t travel. So it’s America first and that’s what they voted for. By America they mean them as individual Americans. Your trade, your wars and your economics are no concern of theirs.

I read during Brexit that only 5% of our population had sufficient economic knowledge to understand the economic arguments. The same would apply in the USA no doubt. We should note that Sunak did understand economics more than most. Just don’t advocate a wall!

How quickly people forget “Build The Wall” in 2016 election! Where is it? Did Trump build it in his 4 years in office? It’s very odd no blame is attached to him and his failures and duping people in 2016.

Maybe the cheque (sorry, should that be "check"?) from Mexico is still in the post. He sounded very certain that they would be paying for it.

The wall does exist! A quick look at Wikipedia confirms the details …

I don't agree. For the first time ever (and I do mean ever) I watched Joe Rogan - I absolutely can't bear Joe Rogan, he's so fond of the sound of his own voice and so smug, so I cannot sit through his podcasts.

But I did when he interviewed Trump, I sat through about 2 and a half hours of Trump, the most I have ever seen before of him talking was about 15 minutes.

He sounded perfectly sharp. He talked and talked and talked, and rambled on sure, he calls it the weave, he's always done that. He's a conceited man who likes the sound of his own voice and brings every story back to a compliment for himself.

I saw no signs at all of any cognitive decline, after 2.5 hours he was still going strong.

In January 2017 Trump signed Executive Order 13767, which initiated the construction of the wall. The funding for the wall ultimately came from U.S. taxpayers, with various appropriations made by Congress.

The project faced numerous political hurdles, including funding disputes that led to a government shutdown in early 2019. Despite these challenges, construction began in earnest in 2018

As of January 2021, they had completed 458 miles of border barriers. This total includes both new construction and replacement of existing barriers. Specifically, about 80 miles were new barriers where none existed previously; the rest involved replacing older structures

It primarily consists of 18- to 30-foot steel bollards designed to deter illegal crossings, and the Biden administration ceased the work on it.

Don't know how well it works, but he did build it.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-07/how-much-of-president-donald-trumps-border-wall-was-built

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I can't recall much of what I read at the time because it was so, so long ago now. But I do remember anit Brexiters calling those who voted to leave all kinds of names with the favourite being rAcIsT fAsCiSt bIgOtS - which didn't work and has continued not to work as a way of winning hearts and minds.

Despite Brexit being democratically voted for almost 9 years ago, I unfortunately still see remainers aiming insults at those who voted to leave.

It is false to say that the left and centre left is so pro immigration or woke that you couldn’t vote for them. Trans issues and immigration issues and the like are insanely complex and nuanced. No one can or should have a screaming easy slogan solution. Trump tells you there’s an easy answer because he just wants to win and he doesn’t really care. I speak as someone who voted for Brexit so I’m not on my high horse because I know how easy it is to be taken in , but he is peddling lies. Just because someone on the left refuses to take some clear line on immigrants or trans issues doesn’t mean they’re a woke danger to your society, it means they are an adult and they are trying to treat other real human beings with compassion. Plus they know there’s no easy answers.

By which I mean I watched more than 1-2 minutes of Joe Rogan for the first time ever, and actually watched his show.

But I don't think it's unreasonable to say that the leave vote was very significantly motivated by xenophobia. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brexit-prejudice-scientists-link-foreigners-immigrants-racism-xenophobia-leave-eu-a8078586.html

And the insults go both ways. The main difference is that the concerns Remain voters had about the economic fallout of Brexit have largely been proved to be correct.

Not working very well is it?

Yes, one of Trump's campaign promises was to remove teaching about gender ideology from schools and make women's sports single sex again. It's a bit odd that people haven't realised this was a big selling point.

They keep saying he's anti abortion too, but actually he's always said he believes abortion laws should be determined at the state level, rather than through federal mandates, and with Roe vs Wade overturned, that's precisely what has happened and will keep happening.

He's clearly stated he won't change the current situation with abortion. And he refused to give in to the far right who were demanding a nationwide ban, and this caused great controversy in his more right wing fan base.

"My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land."

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So the abortion laws in each state will continue to be decided by the states as they currently are.

Those who said a vote for Trump was a vote against women's human rights seem to have misunderstood the situation.

I disagree entirely, I think it's horrifying to accuse 17.5 million of your fellow citizens of being xenophobic based on nothing but your own perception and the fact that they disagree with you.

But you can continue not to learn, change or listen - that's your right. Entirely up to you.

This doesn't actually address anything that he said specifically and you really don't know whether he cares or not (though like all politicians he is certainly motivated by self interest). I would ask you also to show specific lies rather than "he's just peddling lies" because that's precisely the sort of rhetoric that I addressed in my original post.

These are the reasons people voted for him (as I stated in the first post) if you think he won't perform in those areas, you're allowed to believe that of course, and it remains to be seen.

You also seem to be claiming that if a person disagrees with your stance, they lack compassion. You cannot possibly know that. Disagreement and a refusal to vote in the way another person wants you to does not equal hate or lack of compassion.